Missouri releases photo of feces-smeared swastika (Photo)

Graham Watson

The University of Missouri has released a police report and photos of the swastika drawn in feces on the wall of a university dorm bathroom.

The Federalist submitted a public records request after it asserted that the feces-stained symbol, which has been a catalyst for protests on the Missouri’s flagship campus in Columbia, was a hoax.

A swastika drawn in faces on the wall of a Univeristy of Missouri dorm bathroom (University of Missouri).
A swastika drawn in faces on the wall of a Univeristy of Missouri dorm bathroom (University of Missouri).

The pictures show a swastika drawn on the wall next to the toilet in a unisex bathroom stall on the third floor of Gateway Hall on Oct. 24. The incident was immediately reported to police. The school's Title IX office and minorities groups also were made aware of the scene.

Police deemed the incident a hate crime and initially termed it “vandalism.” However, police reclassified the markings as “tampering” because they did not do permanent damage to the bathroom.

The bathroom also had feces on the floor and on the door handle.

No suspects were named in the incident report and no arrests have been made.

This incident was the tipping point for Concerned Students 1950, a Missouri activist group that has been protesting the university’s lack of prompt response to racial tensions happening on the Missouri campus.

In the wake of the protests, which gained national attention last weekend when the Missouri football team joined in, both UM System President Tim Wolfe and Missouri-Columbia Chancellor R. Bowen Loften have resigned their posts. One professor has resigned, another has lost her chair as the head of the student newspaper and the head of Greek life on campus has been placed on administrative leave, all for separate incidents.

While the protesting was heavy earlier in the week, it has since died down as the week has progressed. However, the racial tensions still exist as threats have been made toward various students on campus.

Missouri announced Thursday that Mike Middleton would serve as the interim UM System President. Middleton spent 30 years as the deputy chancellor emeritus of MU and 30 years overall at the university. He retired Aug. 31. Middleton was the first African-American to enroll as a freshman in 1964 and graduate with a law degree.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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